Whats for dinner? Zucchini & Squash

I figured I would share what we're having for dinner tonight.
This recipe is super easy and the kids will love it {at least all mine really enjoy it}.

You can honestly add as many veggies you want or take away others that maybe you know the fam won't be too excited about.

I found this on Allrecipes.com when I searched for ingrediant of zucchini.

-Zucchini & Squash..-

Click here for my video: Whats for dinner:Zucchini & Squash

*3-4 Zucchini {I added squash to mine as well}
*2 tblspoons of Olive Oil {tonight I used Grapeseed Oil..worked awesome}
*Approx. 2 teaspoons of salt, pinch of pepper
*I add pasta to ours and tonight I used Ronzoni's Smart Taste elbows {1/2 box}
*1 sweet onion {white}

This serves approx. 3-4 ppl. {depending on how many seconds they'll want..and they will want more}


cut your zucchini in half length wise then cut crossways {creating thin half moons}
dice your onion {small dice}
put your olive oil {grapeseed oil} into a large skillet on med/high heat.
saute your onion first.
add the zucchini {and squash}
saute the zucchini till they are tender and slightly browned.
sprinkle about 1-2 teaspoons of salt with a pinch of pepper onto the zucchini mixture.
boil your pasta for approx. 8 minutes {1/2 box of Ronzoni Smart Taste}
rince with cold water and put into large bowl
once zucchini mixture is saute add to your pasta and wha-lah ...
dinner is served..yum yum

The amazing world of baby bottles

I thought since Piper has been transitioning from breast milk to formula I would do a review on the baby bottles we've tried. Keep in mind this one little baby's experience with these brands & everyone's wee ones have their preferances.

Piper seems to really prefer and have less issues with the Born Free (glass) bottle & Avent made by Phillips. The flow is perfect, no choking. Now, the Avent bottles have a small issue with the nipple collapsing, but it doesn't occur with every feeding. I have yet to find an issue the Born Free bottle other than the glass bottles are a bit heavy.

I would love to hear your experiences with bottles. Favorites and not so favorite.

Click here for the video review of..Medela glass, Playtex, Adiri, Breastflow,Avent & Born Free

Naturally Thrifty Mom's Giveaway: Skoy Cloth (Ends 9/30/11)

Click here to enter Naturally Thrifty Mom's Giveaway: (OPEN) Skoy Cloth Giveaway - Ends 9/30

To check out her Video about the Skoy Cloth & Giveaway click here.

To enter visit Naturally Thrifty Mom's Blog and complete the form; then for additional opportunities follow her instructions.

Good luck!

I'm on the hunt.

for a local pesticide free/natural farmer of veggies and fruits. I participated in a local health foods store's co-op today for the very 1st time. I was on the list to pick-up my "box" next Thursday & I was tickled pink {or green I should say}about it. I did ask her where the produce came from and she sharply answered "well its a group of Houston organic growers". So, I immediately signed my name to the "call-up" list. This is where if someone reserved a box, but did not prepay and they failed to pick-up by 6:00pm today I would be the stand by person to get the box {best believe I prepaid..I wanted my greens..lol}.

So, at 6:20pm I got the call, "Shannon we have a small box ready for you, if you'd like to come and pick it up". Would I? I'm there! Handed off Miss Piper to Daddie-O whom promptly got her ready for bath and I was "off like a prom dress" {crude comment a courtesy of my dear husband, Wes}.

I was excited as I walked out with my little brown box of little green, purple and orange goodies. I got a head of lettuse, 2 red onions, a lemon, carrots, 2 tomatoes, 2 zucchini, 3 peaches & a cucumber. I was stoked.

As I was driving home I was thinking of the foodie blogs I was going to check out to incorporate my found treats.
I get home, go to wash it..and I see a sticker on the zucchini and it says "Organic from Mexico".
Mexico!...I don't want to get veggies from Mexico! I want the farmer thats living in our own city, struggling with this horrible drought, but manages to produce fruits and vegetables. I was heartbroken.
Now, I'm not one to waste food, so that Mexico born zucchini will be apart of a family dinner this week, but I'm now on a personal crusade to find a local farmer or even "pick-your-own" farm that I can purchase from. I have found a few & will definitely update on those.

And, just to be clear I'm not against fruit or veggies from other states or even countries at that. I just want to do my part in supporting our community and to me this is a small way of doing just that.

Naturally Thrifty Mom: Uprinting Canvas Print Giveaway Ends 9/30

Naturally Thrifty Mom: Uprinting Canvas Print Giveaway Ends 9/30:
So are you ready for a totally amazing giveaway?!?! I am so excited for this one guys! Uprinting has offered to give one to a lucky winner!

I'm loving this giveaway! Brittany is going to be selecting a winner at the end of September. Come on enter..you know you really wanna :)

Click here for Brittany's Giveaway Video

Good luck!!

When you go to her blog your going to notice that she requires to leave a comment on the Giveaway blog itself, but I have notified her that the option of leaving a comment is not showing. I went to her FB page {NaturallyThriftyMom} and left my comments on there, till she gets it fixed for us.

If it was good for a Soldier's wound, its good for my baby's bum!

I've received several messages on You Tube to make a video of the cloth diaper solution we use on our little bit's bum.  And so today I finally got my tail in gear and got it done:)

         Click here for "My cloth wipe solution" video on You Tube

I've seen loads of great {awesome even} ideas on how to make your own.  You can even buy it premixed and so on.  In other words this in no way means; my way is the only way.  Its just what we do.  The main {vital ingredient if you ask me} is the 100% pure tea tree oil I use from NOW essential oils.  In the 1920's some really super smart scientist discovered its antimicrobial activity and was used commonly for skin issues and even wounds of injured Soldiers.  So, I figured if its good for a Soldier's wound, then heck its good for Piper's bum! 

Its pretty simple...approx. 2 cups of distilled water, 2 drops of tea tree oil, and 1-2 drops of johnson's baby shampoo.  Throw in some terry cloth wipes {the only ones I really like to use for dirty baby bottoms}and WaLah!  No, more store bought wipes for you!

{not to forget it will also make any room they are stored in smell pretty awesome too}

I love strippin'

diapers that is...


Well, September has been dubbed by The Cloth Diaper Channel on You Tube as cloth diaper stripping month.

Click here for Britney's Video on "Why & When you should Strip"

Today, I washed 'em, soaked 'em and rinsed 'em and oh, its lovely.  You wouldn't think that freshly stacked, stripped diapers could make an individual so satisfied, but hey, you just met someone it does!  Something about having your stash clean and neatly put away and ready for a new day that can bring a smile to a mama like me.  I'm in the process of editing my latest video showing my Rock in Green Soak {stripping} on our Piper's cloth diapers.  Now, granted she hasn't had quite enough time to really put the mileage on her diapers just yet, but it definitely feels good to have them "like new" again.  Piper is still in size small {majority Fuzzibunz}, but I've slowly started to incorporate her OS {one size} diapers into her daily use pile.  I really love the trimness of the sized diapers in comparison to OS diapers.  Especially when we're out & about, but otherwise at home being a bit bulky in the drawers is okay with me:) 

{aren't they perdy}

I've come into the world of fitted diapers and I must say I am really loving the Kissaluvs Hemp fitted for night time use. It is awesome!  Piper sleeps between 9-10 hours a night and with this bad boy diaper she can go all night without being changed..no leaks and no rash from moisture staying on her too long.  Its the super-duper night time trooper diaper! Can't rave enough about it.  So, if your a cloth diapering mama, get your strip on this September and start your fall season {although here in Texas we're still experiencing 100 degree days} to fresh and perdy diapies:)

Click here to see my video on my Rock In Green Soak-Cloth Diaper Stripping

From construction paper to laptops...

 {Will he actually figure out that he IS really smarter than me ;-}

Remember the days of having to supply your kiddos with red and tan construction paper and a packet of #2 pencils {I might be overly exaggerating the actual "smallness",but you know the basics of school supplies}.  Well..welcome to the year 2011 {pronounced twenty eleven nowadays}.  Our son's list consisted of rewritable discs, memory cards, ear buds and of course they no longer supply actual text books, everything is online.  I'm not sure about the rest of you, but when it comes to learning materials or manuals I still enjoy holding some good ole' paper in my hands {of course recycle once I've mastered the skill}.  As I sit here and watch Lee finish up some math, which I'm secretly looking up "mom's that need help with their children's math homework" sites on google, I think to myself just how far our world has come and even scarier just how far will it go?!  I love that our children are becoming technology savvy, but all at the same time I feel like it robs them of learning it the "long hand" way.  When your five year old can tell you how to reset your iPhone it just sends a slight chill up the back bone.  Are our kids truly going to be able to say, "I'm smarter than you, mom!" {the infamous line that our parents would always remind of us of.."You'll never be smarter than me, kid!"}

Hmm..1st Blog Entry

So, I've contemplated what my very first blog entry to should be titled and more importantly what should it even be about.  I think..oh, I know, I know I'll make it about my children, You Tube and my involvement, or about me, but then I stopped and thought to myself.  How do you start each day of your life, Shannon?  And {ding} the animated light bulb lights above my head, breakfast.  I'm going to start this off as if its the start of a brand new day.  So, this morning little Ms.Piper woke up at 7am after 10 hours of sleep {which is amazing considering shes only 12 weeks old!}. Made Ms. Pate {Peyton} her breakfast and sat down and enjoyed my cup of Greek Yogurt with an added touch of honey.  If you haven't tried this before, {but you'll need to enjoy rich, creamy yogurts}..this is a must-try!  I must say it was pretty yummy and a great start to this day...and this blog:)

{I must say I feel a little bit godess like after a cup}